Page 33 of Forever Defiant
It didnotinvolve Dustin Slater.
But if day one was already this messy? Yeah. This feature was going to kill me.
Mike came out of the room that Dustin had gone into. He was already in his practice clothes. Uniform? Shit, I needed a more basic football breakdown. Maybe the idiot’s guide to the idiot’s guide.
“Hey, you need to be here about twenty to thirty minutes before.” He had no malice or reprimand in his voice. “We start at four. So we need to be here before that.”
“Oh, okay.” I frowned. “We definitely need to coordinate schedules. I have class before this, and I already ran across campus. Tell me your day,” I instructed, and hastily wrote it alldown, seeing how to make this work. When I had it, we walked to the doors that led to the room where they watched film of themselves and got told,again, why they weren’t good enough.
Football was not for those with low self-esteem, I learned.
I also learned that film session was my personal hell.
The room was dark, cold, and silent except for the echo of the coach shouting over footage. My job was to sit behind Mike and quietly observe his routine, which would’ve been easy if Dustin weren’t sitting two rows ahead of us, turning his head every few minutes to give me the kind of look that said he didn’t understand why I existed.
I glared back every time. Professionally, of course.
Halfway through film, someone muttered, “Slater’s got himself a stalker, she keeps watching him,” and the room erupted in quiet laughter.
I didn’t blush often, but I did then.
Dustin turned around, wearing a dangerous smirk. “Oh yeah?” he said to his teammates. “She wishes.”
My pen nearly broke in my hand. Mike glanced at me and gave me a tight smile. I put my head down and didn’t raise it again until the lights came back on. We were some of the last to leave, and I was braced for whatever came next.
I hoped he wouldn’t resent the ‘stalker’ comment. Mike led me to the tunnel.
I needed to break the awkward silence. “These first few days will be you getting used to me, and then we’ll be more in sync, and you’ll forget I’m even here.”
I knew who snorted behind us. I ignored him.
“Let’s move it, freshman,” Dustin said, walking past us. “Coach doesn’t slow down for a piece of tail, neither should you.”
Piece of tail? What a dick.I resented the fact I’d kissed him. One more hour — that’s all I had, and day one would be over.I’d go home to Milly, and we’d spend the night in silence. Sweet, blissful quiet.
Mike gave me an apologetic smile; he didn’t say anything in my defense, but he’d heard it too and chosen not to comment. Was it because Dustin was untouchable in this environment, or because Mike had learned not to?
Probably both.
I rolled my eyes, letting him know it didn’t bother me, which made him grin. I wasn’t going to be the reason Mike was uncomfortable.
One more hour. That’s all I had left.
Easy.
By the end of the day, my feet ached, my hair felt heavy, and my notebook pages were full. And somehow, Dustin Slater had managed to wedge himself into every part of my assignment without being the assignment at all.
I’ll do better tomorrow, I promised myself.
I didn’t believe me either.
Chapter 9
Dustin
She was everywhere.
Everywhere.
